ESP USA Factory Tour with Master Builder Gil Vasquez (check out these guitars!!)

My good friend and Master Builder Gil Vazquez gave my wife, son and I, a tour of the ESP USA factory this Summer.
This video will show every step of the guitar build process including CNC, Carving machines, neck fretting and master painting; as well as "Made in the USA" hands-on luthiery!
Check out the beautiful ESP USA models like the Eclipse, V-II Flying V, M-II, Horizon and Viper guitars being made. And you'll also see a variety of woods like the quarter sawn maple neck planks, Koa and Tamo ash.
ESP USA are doing great work in North Hollywood. Making great set-neck and neck through guitars that can be configured by the consumer via their website.
Skip the talk and go straight to the factory (wood shop)- 3:45
Carving Machine- 5:46
CNC Machine- 7:12
Check out this "Fruity Pebbles" guitar! 13:15
Fretting Necks/Neck and Fingerboard woods- 14:10
Does Ebony wood sink? 17:18
Paint Shop- 18:00
Final Assembly Room- 21:17

[@AGore88]

Thank you so so much for filming and uploading this!! I'm a huge ESP USA fan and seeing the faces behind the masterpieces is just awesome!

[@andrewd1855]

Thank you for the tour !! Very cool to see behind the scenes, I own a ESP E2/M2 and love it !!! Stay da kine! AloooooHa!

[@mundojuillerat]

Andrew D mahalo for the comment. I just was checking out the ESP USA “cosmos” series. Sick!!

[@1sinister80]

ESP makes awsome stuff. Love em.

[@mcsuckalives2302]

Thanks to stimulus i now own a esp usa m 2,never thought id own a 4 grand guitar

[@kiblerjim]

Thank you so much for sharing! I really enjoyed this factory tour!

[@incognitoguitars9999]

Great video! Thx for sharing!

[@darthdurkelthewise320]

Thanks for sharing this unique and personal look into the creative and small world of ESP. This makes me even happier to be an owner and supporter of this company, both the USA and Japan operations. 🤘🏻

[@AkiraSpectrum]

Very cool! Thanks a lot for the tour. Maybe one day i'll be lucky enough to own an ESP USA.

[@gregtheguitarguymotorcyclist]

Great video! It was nice meeting you briefly, and glad you had a chance to come visit! Gil really has done some good things since he joined our shop! Mahalo!

[@mundojuillerat]

Thank you! With all the great response from this vid I was telling Gil that I'd like to come back post-pandemic and do an update!

[@gregtheguitarguymotorcyclist]

@@mundojuillerat please do! Very cool "behind the scenes" and back story, people love to see and hear it!

[@Colin.W]

Seeing things in your video is giving me ideas of what I want. Love the V shape for standing but I also love the Eclipse.

[@mundojuillerat]

Cool! Circle back and let us know what you decide on? In a perfect world you get both!

[@zipchtkdn7804]

I'm sure the local City and county inspector would love to be inside of that customer shop

[@mmmcoffee5536]

I would love to learn how to builds guitars from Gil. Seems like such an awesome guy to work with.

[@user-px2nt6fd3c]

I really like the idea of that carving machine. I might built mine one day.

[@mundojuillerat]

That would be cool!

[@nancywilson6526]

Very cool. Love esp guitars. I used to have a japanese custom m2 I think it was. Great guitar..

[@affiliatedx3]

I happen to own that guitar that's at the end that Gil is holding. It's a beauty but I am too afraid to ding it up so I keep it inside the case and only play it once in a while LOL

[@gregtheguitarguymotorcyclist]

😲🙏

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

Wow. Very cool. I would love to work there. I used to program CNCs in the machine shop industry. CNCs make guitars and anything else better. They never get tired, they are acxurate, etc.

[@miketurner4173]

Great content ✌️🤘🏴🇦🇺

[@peehandshihtzu]

Wow, cool video, thanks so much for posting it. :)

[@mundojuillerat]

Thank you! Recently talked to Gil and once we're past the pandemic I'll do a follow up vid!

[@peehandshihtzu]

@@mundojuillerat Oh cool, I subbed so I don't miss it and in the meantime I'm sure you'll keep us all entertained, :)

[@mundojuillerat]

@@peehandshihtzu appreciate the Sub!

[@beotheguitarist]

Cool video! Two of my USA ESP's came out of this factory and my third ESP is from Japan.

[@beotheguitarist]

@@stevebrule6172 Love it. But I've had it for many years. It's a 2011 Horizon FR-II.

[@zipchtkdn7804]

Gil is great

[@Alfredo78666]

- Thank you for the tour - What?! - Whaaat?! - Whaaaaat?!

[@blackscorpion7831]

I would like to work in that factory, I really like ESP guitars, they are very professional.

[@aniqanuar6320]

I'll be absolutely happy with any of the b stocks they have😂

[@theone614]

The one he said the carve wound up not being right wound up being absolutely gorgeous to me LOL.

[@mundojuillerat]

I thought the same thing!

[@LeoM-zt3pl]

I feel like the ESP Japanese custom shop video showed more professional and higher skilled workers. Some of this stuff looks very amature for how expensive the ESP USA 🇺🇸 guitars are

[@soundthealarm]

Yeah, CA has/had some work to do. Hope they refined the man. set up in 2023

[@davidfaustino4476]

You can always tell how Portuguese a guitar player is by how much Nuno gear he owns. Parabens amigo.

[@ericglassco1445]

I could never actually afford one of these new… but I came across a used ESP USA TE-II hanging on the wall at Guitar Center for half of what it would cost new… I bought it without a second thought.. it ruined me!!! I can’t buy budget guitars anymore!! The quality and playability of the ESP is totally unbelievable!!!

[@raine4214]

You should definitely do a video about picking his brain about his time with the Washburn custom shop!

[@mundojuillerat]

Great idea! That custom shop was excellent in it’s day!

[@mundojuillerat]

Thanx for the suggestion!

[@CB-fp5zr]

I FEEL LIKE THE "FRUITY PEBBLES" BADGE IS GOING TO STICK!!! IT SHOULD!!

[@mundojuillerat]

It's definitely stuck with our family. We call my Solar guitar (you can see it on my vids) Fruity Pebbles.

[@Masterfighterx]

Dang, no harm doing B stock at a discount, that top on that Horizon is killer and not seen very often!

[@marialenaho5249]

Interesting video! Thanks you! I know that guitars are made in factories and they are too harsh to build them, because it is tiring and needs many hours! I have watched videos how to make a guitar and it's too hard! I know that I'm not able to make a guitar if I want to, because I couldn't make it on my own.

[@twootters7433]

I love how people say..."my dear friend".

[@micksinger5240]

African Blackwood sinks

[@jacksonmarshallkramer5087]

Take an ESP Kamikaze, strip the graphic and replace it with a solid color. What ESP model is that?

[@zipchtkdn7804]

That looks like carvin old cnc

[@mcsuckalives2302]

Isnt that called a compound radius neck?

[@luthiferbuilds]

Fuck yeah STEW MAC tools!

[@jerryparisi7777]

SO THAT SHOP IS DESIGNED YOU HAVE TO WALK THRU ALL THE DUST OF WOODSHOP TO GET TO PAINT AND BACKTHRU TO BUFFING .

[@jimclark7917]

I wonder if they are better than the Jackson custom shop

[@Disabledguitarist1985]

Is ESP USA snd ESP custom shop the same thing ?

[@mundojuillerat]

Good question that I should've talked about. ESP USA and ESP Custom Shop (in Japan) are two different shops. To be accurate I looked it up on ESP's site and copy/pasted below. Having been to ESP USA I can say that it's set up as a "custom shop" and the guitars they put out are high level professional quality. Thanks! ESP Custom Shop The ESP Custom Shop is located in Japan. We make three types of guitars and basses there: completely custom instruments, ESP Original Series instruments (see below), and our Signature Series guitars and basses under the ESP brand. Each instrument made at the ESP Custom Shop is handcrafted by experienced luthiers to the highest level of detail, and rank among the finest guitars in the world. ESP USA Beginning in 2013, we opened a manufacturing shop near our United States ESP headquarters. We founded this facility for the purpose of building our ESP USA Series, which are high-performance guitars designed for serious professional players. ESP USA models are not custom guitars, but they may be personalized with several aspects, including the top woods, the finish color and type (gloss or satin), a choice of passive or active pickups, and more.

[@Disabledguitarist1985]

@@mundojuillerat esp custom shop japan is above the ESP California shop. But yeah they are both custom guitar quality level

[@rendyandrian7149]

What guitar does your son get for his birthday ?

[@mundokealii7902]

Rendy Andrian I’m getting a Ponce guitar, you should check him out on IG @ponceguitars.

[@akumakami9727]

Are you related to Garth 🤔? Tell him and Wayne I said hi.

[@StringBanger]

Psss...ESP Japan sands those neck thrus by hand.

[@TIGERGUTS]

Japan ESP is probably cringing at this. Japan>usa

[@yellowcat1310]

ironwood might sink

[@vgs44]

I think you filmed a bunch of OSHA violations lmao

[@andrewwilkinson3510]

Wouldn't buy one from them, just didn’t convince me the way the Japanese do. I mean, using a pointy headstock as a pointer = no go for me. He even touched the other neck with it.. And that natural binding on the V @19:25 isn’t 100% symmetrical. Let's hope they can keep grinding and get as good a rep as the Japanese. :)

[@M4ttNet]

Just wanted to point out that's a V-II, the entire design is supposed to be asymmetrical vs the V

[@bripolar]

Camera child?

[@kiileielei3415]

" I Don't get shit about what U'r saying, but just lukin' at your workshop period/ Soldier unconventional soon to hit UNITED STATES FOR GUD! KIILEI

[@LeoM-zt3pl]

A lot of those workers are gonna have respiratory issues as they get older. Zero face masks, gloves , eye protection etc.

[@darkscience1466]

This video makes me not want to buy one of these. This looks so amateurish compared to ESP Japan.

[@Rockstar-lx2li]

Poor camera work..